Obit: Petkovsek, John Sr. (1870 - 1954)

Contact: Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 
 

Surnames: Petkovsek, Germosch, Beton, Lassen, Bruske, Gregorich, Svete  
 

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) January 6, 2010 
 

Petkovsek, John Sr. (16 December 1870 - 10 December 1954) 
 

This account of the death and funeral of John Petkovsek, Sr. is in the December 1954 article in the January 6, 2010 issue of the Clark County Press, The Good Old Days compiled by Dee Zimmerman:  
 

Funeral services for John Petkovsek, Sr., 83, who died Friday morning at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Marshfield, were held Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Holy Family Catholic Chruch in Willard.  The Rev. Augustine Svete officiated.  Burial was made in the Holy Family Cemetery.  His six sons were pallbearers. The general Rosary was held Sunday evening at the Hill Funeral Home. 
 

He was born December 16, 1870 in Yugoslavia; when he was 16 years old he went to work in the mines.  He was a miner for 23 years.  He went from Yugoslavia to Germany in 1893.  After service in the Austrian Army, he came to the United States in 1897 and went to mining in Springfield, Ill.  He was married there in June 1899, to Mary Germosch.  They came to Willard from Springfield in 1911 and settled on a farm 2 ½ miles northwest of Willard.  He retired in 1947 and has made his home for the past three years with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Gregorich of Willard. 
 

He has been a member of the town board of Hendren for a number of years as assessor and had been a trustee of Holy Family Church.  His wife preceded him in death in 1937. 
 

Surviving him are six sons and four daughters: Mrs. John (Mary) Beton of Chicago; John, Jr., Joseph and Anton of Greenwood; Mrs. Pete (Anna) Lassen of Waukegan, Ill.; Mrs. Ray (Frances) Bruske of Melrose Park, Ill.; Frank of Chicago; Martin of Morton Grove, Ill.; William on the home farm in Willard; and Mrs. Leo (Dorothy) Gregorich of Willard; 22 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.  He was the last of his family, preceded in death by two sisters and one brother.